Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Not sure if they have Kinder Surprise in North America, but they are little plastic eggs with a toy and chocolate inside. The toys are often little animals.

This egg slit yesterday morning and when I got home last night had clearly worked on the slit a bit more but was in no rush to come out. This photo was taken at 7:30 pm and by 11:00 pm had still not moved (my taking its photo probably didn't help).

I am disappointed that I hadn't photographed it a day or two before it hatched, for it had three huge dents running along the top, bottom and one of the sides, leaving what seemed like 50% of its volume for the hatchling. It popped back to normal shape once slit.

This morning the little sucker was out and about, but clearly freshly out as it was still dragging the egg membranes around behind it. This photo was taken at around 6:30am. It had managed to separate itself from the membranes by the time I left for work, but I'll leave it in the egg box until the weekend.

Congrats! And thanks for the advice on the pearlite, I'll definately take heed.

You're going to leave it in that nasty perlite? Why? Its getting all stuck in its eyes and stuff! Ever notice the dust that comes off a fresh bag of that stuff?
I washed all mine in tepid water and put them in a bin full of damp papertowels. And I rinsed and gave them their eggshell, too. I guess I am sensitive, after all.
Just an idea.
Have fun with the little stunners.
D.

Quick question Goon.

You rinse all your perlite before using it?

If that is the case do you let it completely dry or use it shortly there after? Reason I ask is because I have always heard that you should start with a 1:1 ratio of water to perlite by weight. If you wash it how do you know it is dry before adding water.

Thanks, Gene

No rinsing. I just hold the box under the tap and pour. I stir it with my hands until it all is wet. Lots of dust flies around, it just doesn't smell or look good to me. I'd hate to get it in my eye.
If you were going to rinse it, you could just bake that stuff on a cookie sheet to dry it out. So I've read.
I'm not saying DK should do whatever I do, I'm just saying what I did, and it was OK. They still had their umbillical cords, and I wanted them in a clean environment. Just making conversation.
D.

Just making conversation. I have heard you could bake the stuff to dry it out and that it would actually give you a more acurate 1:1 ratio if you bake it first.

See ya later Goon,

Gene

haha... Just kidding, I know that you meant no harm. My friends here would fall over laughing at the suggestion that I was anything less than oversensitive to the needs and wants of my monitors. As far as they are concerned, I fret and fuss far too much and have the most mollycoddled monitors in the country.

Dragoon, washing the perlite off after they've hatched is like closing the barn doors after the horse has bolted, in my opinion. Their faces get so covered in perlite as they struggle out of the egg that if any damage were to be done, it would be well and truly done by the time they have fully hatched. I don't leave them in the perlite for too long, just long enough to rest after their ordeal. I even put a little pvc tube (diameter less than a toilet roll) in once I see that they've pipped, so they have someplace to crawl off the perlite and hide in as soon as they are up to it. They are usually tucked inside the tube by the time I open the incubator the next day and (theoretically) all I have to do is move the whole tube over to their new enclosure.

I say 'theoretically' because, as much as I don't like tampering with them I do a quick weighing and take a couple of photographs before I move them over, THEN I leave them alone.

I not only do not wash the pearlite, but I leave the babies in the egg box for over a week.

Hopefully we will be to abuse our fourth generation of Lacies this year. Hahahahahahahahaha.

Actually, I think and I do mean think, that they need to be left in the box for several reasons. One is, to harden up, that is, when they hatch, their bones are flexible, it takes about a week for the bones to harden up. I also think, this is where bonding first occurs, in the egg chamber. You would think they would have time to smell and become familiar with eachother.

As I said, I feel this is important, and I have not had problems so far. Thanks FR

I just read this now!
Grrr, and I just posted on Varanus about how I remove the babies...
Leave the babies in that gross perlite. Nuts, I never get to do what I want to do...
D.

We don't have Yowies here either, Dave, but that's definitely what you have there. Three for three (so far), congratulations again!